Pakamac

jamie where you still made to wear your pakamc when in your teens . were you embarressed about wearing your pakamac. did you ask to be aloud out without your plastic pakamac n hood. Bev.

Good day.

There were plenty of warm sunny summer days that my parents would dress me warm for. Others would be running around in summer dresses and I would be wearing my Mac and Wellingtons, often with the hood up and a scarf.

Love the comment from Jamie as i recall pakamacs at first had hoods.From early age had dreams of being made to wear plastic mac with hood . like jamie even in fine weather. in my dreams on sunny days i would be made fun of. would ask mum to let me off wearing my plastic mac n hood when fine but to no avail ,Bev.

Hi I have not made a entry on this site for some time now as l felt it seemed to be drifting away from its main object (plastic Pakamacs) l have been adding comments right from 2007 when it first started. and l made its 500th entry on 13/2/13. There is one person in particular who l feel is very similar to myself and that is Brian l have read is many entries andlike me he goes back to when it really all started. So l have a message here for you Brian. l would love to have a nice long chat with you and l have so much to share. So if you would like to chat too with a very Pakamac experienced person like yourself then please feel free to contact me alpha3x@hotmail.co.uk where hopefully we can chat freely l am sure you will be glad you did. regards Alan

Thanks for your comments Brian and I'm sure you appreciate, one needs to he specific on these things hence it has to be a genuine pakamac for me

John,if you after a brand new nylon mac,buttoned,collared,in the traditional Pakamac style,you may have problems. However,such items do turn up regularly on e-bay,and they are almost invariably in excellent condition.

Alternatively,you would do well to consider "Stay Dry Rainwear". They stock excellent,low-priced nylon macs,in both navy and black. They have both zips and popper fastening and attached hoods. The seams and general workmanship are, admittedly, a little crude, compared with Pakamac's excellent standards, but they are beautifully relaxing and comfortable to wear. I don't think you will be disappointed.

Of course,if you are like myself and my fellow enthusiasts,you will probably try both routes! Just "follow the yellow-brick road", and let us know how you fare. Best wishes!

I'm looking to source a genuine navy blue nylon pakamac in size extra large....preferably new so any suggestions ?

Hi Brian you are a expert on pac a macs your knowledge of them is second to none hope you continue to comment on this site Happy new year to you and all mac lovers

Thanks for the compliment,Gareth! An expert indeed! But today I had a beautiful sighting-an authentic navy blue nylon mac, pulsating with the wearer's every move. As you would expect, a somewhat older lady. Didn't get chance to speak, so there was no liaison, but plenty of inspiration!

As for Isobel, she still remains my ultimate waterproof pin-up. Some months ago, on a very hot afternoon, I took some selfies of me in one of my navy Stay-Dry nylon macs, and these are on display on my Flickr site. The sun was so vivid, the mac appeared almost ROYAL BLUE! I was standing at the lake, near to Isobel's house, hoping she would appear, but not on this occasion. However, the whole leafy area remains my favourite haunt for outdoor macking. Rest assured, I do remain witnin the confines of decency! Till next time, happy macking to all of you!

Hi Brian great to hear a expert talking about pac a macs please don't leave us in suspence let's hear about Isobel

A Happy New Year to all the waterproof fraternity-let's hope there is as much rain as possible!

Jamie has made an interesting comment about Pakamac hoods. The standard grey-black plastic macs of the 50s/60s were without hoods,to accommodate school uniform caps(yuck!)for the boys, and hats for the girls. Some of the other brands of plastic mac did have attached hoods, but most had separate rain bonnets, so beloved of Susan.

When plastic macs reappeared with a vengeance, in the late 70s, the attached hoods were one of the most attractive features. For my part, I love attached hoods as they make the items so much more alluring. They give the mac and the wearer a beautifully "chunky" appearance. They make me think of Isobel-here I go again-who has just the right figure for mackintosh wearing. If only I could have persuaded her......

Jamie do you still wear pac a macs?

I also have very fond memories of the pakamac. My parents were rather strict when I was growing up, and one of their rules was that a pakamac would be my summer coat. I had to wear my pakamac whenever I set foot outside during the summer. On especially hot days, I was allowed to keep my hood down but most of the time I had to wear it up.

Hi everyone Merry Christmas Brian Jeff Susan Rob thank you all for your comments

Pakamac may be gone, unfortunately, but the tradition is kept going by "Stay Dry", "PVC-U-Like", and one or two others. One good thing about Pakamac is that they kept their prices very reasonable even though they were leaders in their particular field, and their successors have followed suit. Nor have they sacrificed quality-just try the PEVA macs of Stay Dry!

A lovely contribution,John, congratulations and thanks very much. Like me, your enthusiasm was sparked by school rainwear.

Although plastic macs were allowed as part of our school uniform, they had to be grey, grey-black, or black, to harmonise with the navy blue basic uniform. Because the girls preferred the more colourful macs, which were frowned upon, it followed that far more boys wore the standard plastic Pakamacs than girls.

However, a few girls did have their own way, and I recall a beautiful see-through mac in a vivid emerald green, well worn.
The colour was particularly striking, and was only equalled when Pakamac brought out their new range in 1977. They then referred to this colour as "jade".

So, there is another piece of waterproof trivia, and there will be more to come. In the meantime, I will keep searching for those cherished gems from Chadderton.......

Hi new member here .I have just discovered the site and have very much enjoyed reading all the comments with interest bringing back old memories of when I was taken to get fitted for school rainwear or my sisters .In west London where I lived there were two shops that specialised in school uniforms one for boys and gents and the other for girls and both fully stocked pakamac plastic and nylon raincoats which were compulsory then at most schools in the area.So usually about once a year you were taken to get fitted, usually for a gabardine raincoat and a pakamac to fit over the top ,then you were fully measured for both so you got the correct fitting .Both the shops used to carry a very extensive range. Now long gone.

An excellent contribution from Plasticjiffymac, outlining the agonies and ecstasies of waterproof enthusiasm. More and more I am going back to those early days of boy's plastic macs, and how I was so obsessed with them. At school, on wet days, I could hardly concentrate on lessons, knowing so many of them were hanging in the cloakroom, drying so beautifully.

As I have previously implied, I hav9e no doubt at all on the veracity of Stories website. We waterproof enthusiasts must stick together and share as many experiences as possible. Maybe sharing macs too-a lovely thought. Jeff has mentioned the possibility of displaying my items in a museum-again a wonderfully creative idea.

My great friend/contact/near-partner, Susan, has not only marvellous wardrobes of plastic and nylon macs, but also a wonderfully comprehensive knowledge of such items. It would not surprise me at all if the Stories website did not belong to her. She has some great male plastic Pakamacs too. And, Sue, if you are reading this, please let me have your phone number once more. I accidentally deleted it, hence my not being in touch.

Despite the wonderful convenience of Pakamacs, I have my eyes on an olive green heavy latex rubber mac, from Weathervain, and this may be my next purchase...food for thought...a rubber mac...rubber mac...

The comments are good, but the macs themselves would be even better. I will not rest until I have acquired a genuine, grey-black, see-through, late 50s/early 60s plastic Pakamac, from the original Chadderton factory. There must still be a few around somewhere.

On Facebook totally sixties there is a post about remembering bering plastic macs some interesting comments

Susan and Plastic Pakamac/Stories, real professionals! And no, I haven't read any of your material, Plastic Pakamac, but when my e-mails are sorted out, I will be investigating your resources further.

Just caught up with the latest updates. Fascinating and I'm interested in contacting Pakamac. I am not associated with his work but as you imagine, very interested.
I'll contact you again Brian, so we can continue our lovely chats.

Hello Brian, , I am the sole author of the works you mention, they have never been distributed anywhere so I would rather like to know how you came to read them, especially as I have only allowed MP3 files to be listened to by a couple of very close contacts.
It is possible though, that a few rather badly written stories of mine were seen on my old yahoo website, now defunct for some time. It is possible, who know with the internet?

My more recent works have been produced over the past eight years now, and a great deal of effort in recording them as audio books, in as a professional a way as possible, has gone into my self set task, eight full chapters in all, each lasting thirty to fifty minutes.
But anyway, this first of my books is based on my very real history, it is not fiction, and if you really would like to hear the whole of the first book, of which there are many, all you have to do is to send an email using a proper email address to pakamac@mail.com. And I will then point you to where I have stored the files.
I do hope that anyone who hears them will leave criticism of my work, for it is quite hard doing such a thing without a mentor.
Again, if you would like to contact me, please use pakamac@mail.com.

Oh, and I have been using the name Pakamac ever since the internet really got going in the early eighties, so that must give you some notion of my age...
I Look forwards to reading some comments.

An excellent contribution from Plasticjiffymac, outlining the agonies and ecstasies of waterproof enthusiasm. More and more I am going back to those early days of boy's plastic macs, and how I was so obsessed with them. At school, on wet days, I could hardly concentrate on lessons, knowing so many of them were hanging in the cloakroom, drying so beautifully.

As I have previously implied, I hav9e no doubt at all on the veracity of Stories website. We waterproof enthusiasts must stick together and share as many experiences as possible. Maybe sharing macs too-a lovely thought. Jeff has mentioned the possibility of displaying my items in a museum-again a wonderfully creative idea.

My great friend/contact/near-partner, Susan, has not only marvellous wardrobes of plastic and nylon macs, but also a wonderfully comprehensive knowledge of such items. It would not surprise me at all if the Stories website did not belong to her. She has some great male plastic Pakamacs too. And, Sue, if you are reading this, please let me have your phone number once more. I accidentally deleted it, hence my not being in touch.

Despite the wonderful convenience of Pakamacs, I have my eyes on an olive green heavy latex rubber mac, from Weathervain, and this may be my next purchase...food for thought...a rubber mac...rubber mac...

I too tried the address from my gmail account and was so pleased I did.

The link does not provide direct access to the stories, you need more information before you can can do that, a real email address, to protect the writer from some rather less than honest people.

But the stories really do reflect such feelings about Pakamac rainwear, especially a poor lads coming to terms with such a thing, as well as the tragedy that enfolds.

I just went to the web address given and having provided a contact email was sent the whole book of the first series, in audio form, MP3s, an excellent work, and there is nothing suspiciouse about it at all.

Perhaps you did something wrong, so maybe you should just keep on trying.

Hope this helps. plasticjiffymac@gmail.com

I tried emailing stories it fails I think it is suspicious

"Stories", your comment is irresistible, and when I am in full command of my entire computer resources once more, I will take you up on your offer. But I have a feeling I know you already..........

"Stories", your comment is irresistible, and when I am in full command of my entire computer resources once more, I will take you up on your offer. But I have a feeling I know you already..........

In the past there used to be many comments here about proper Pakamac plastic rainwear, and I thought that some of you may like to know, that over some years now, I have written and recorded several episodes, books and audio files on that subject...
So if any of your would like to know more, please contact me at pakamac@mail.com.
I promise this is not spam or anything, and I would love to share my thoughts about such things.
Pakamac.